GURPS Technomancer

I plan to go on recon in the morning to explore the site where the Mages are which put up the barrier to block out the sun. And of course Bucky insists on tagging along. First I told Buck that I am going to treat him like an adult and no longer give him orders. He reacts like a pathetic puppy which I just beat with a rolled up newspaper! Arg! He wants to be treated like an adult and when I do he acts like a child.

I told him that Ben was the one who imposed his restriction to going out of the HQ and he would need to ask Ben. F—K! And I get roped back in. Blah blah and I end up with Bucky going with me under my responsibility.

To Bucky’s credit he, and Becca, do a decent job. Becca even brought a transport pad with her that smart bitch. I am still mildly annoyed she almost took my eye out with a knife this morning though.

I am annoyed at Ben though. This morning he did one of those “Officer Lectures” to me about how I do not plan ahead. Yes I don’t exactly plan ahead, how can I? They call me in to think fast and furious in the moment. I get called in to defuse an IED which is not one one-zero-five round which could individually level two city blocks, but six of the damn things. I have no idea what the trigger is, if it is proximity, timer or remote. I have only one option, solve the problem by any means necessary. The brass back in their safe bunkers with all their plans have no idea what decisions I have to make in the field every split second.

I am probably sounding belligerently arrogant at this moment. But for Ben, who lost his entire team, to lecture me after I saved as many of his team as I could… Well, he is the CO and I will respect him as such. His troops seem to follow him well and I know I have a very askew view of him. As he probably does of us visitors. Damn it Buck!

As for the future, I wish I had some intel. I have next to none and this does worry me. I must assume they have heavy magical defenses. I should also assume that we have less than 30 seconds from an alarm to the target mages being taken away. I don’t know what it is from but I am liking that one quote Bucky likes to say “Take off and nuke the site from orbit.”

As for extensive planning… Well as they say, the best laid plans go out the window once the first bullet is fired.

I am finding myself not knowing what to do about Buck and it is incredibly frustrating.

Buck asks me to tell him what to do but immediately resists whenever I do. In one discussion he brought up that my tactics were winning tactics and his were losing, if not massacre level, tactics. When I blatantly stated he just said my tactics were the better ones be refused to answer.

I believe Buck has some deep seated psychological inability to take orders even when he has acknowledged that they are the correct course of action. I really do not know what to do at this point.

He states that if I “ask” him something he will do it but if I tell him forget it. In a combat situation if I yell “Cover my left” he will do nothing. He will only respond, possibly, if I ask “Buck, would you mind terribly to please cover my left” and even then apparently I need to give even more description so he fully understands. In combat seconds matter.

Case in point was I captured a vampire and I told buck I needed him right now. I had to add a please and some other pleasantries before he showed up quickly. I know Buck has been practicing his teleport so it should have only taken a few seconds at most but it was not until I added the pleasantries and restated as a request that he showed up after 15 or more seconds. On a battlefield, which with being one-on-one with a vampire I feel I was, that time difference is life or death.

Buck may have been trying to punish me for getting angry with him yesterday. But he told some random guy we were dragons! We had one secret to keep, both me and Ben said it. Jack before in Miami. And Buck just tells this random guy.

I am glad I did not know the whole story at the time. I was just shocked when I did learn it. This random mage guy shows up, tells Buck he is cleared and so Buck tells him everything. Apparently everything! Random mage guy. He told Buck that he was cleared and Buck just accepted and believed it without verifying anything! I just cannot believe it. It is like a guy in a random truck full of fertilizer driving up to a checkpoint. Driver is not expected, has no papers or authorization and just says I have clearance. The guard says ok and just lets him in. BOOM!!!! There just went an American Embassy!

After such gullible stupidity how can I trust any of Buck’s judgment at this point?

On the bright side it turns out the vampire is a good guy it seems and told us of a prophecy that led me to potentially, with mostly Jordan and Becca’s help, to a potential clue to bring the sun back to this world and defeat the vampires.

I expected the Q&A session to be a bit rough as we had not prepped. I never dreamed that Buck would open his mouth and basically say he was the one responsible for tens of thousands of innocent lives. I thought that Rebecca, and I and even Ben had told him how bad that would be.

One member, Amelia, asked Buck what we could do for them. Buck cut me off while I thought for a moment and told them something like teach them to take damage better as if they were pathetic wimps. Then he told them to go recruit new members to fight on!

I honestly stood there flabbergasted and unable to speak. One of the Resistance members, Monty I believe, confronted Buck harshly. So harshly I wanted to cheer.

I could not believe Buck said that and so heartlessly. These people have lost two-thirds or more of their friends and loved ones and Buck just summed it up like virtual units in that F—-ing game he lost himself in for over three days. I so F—-ing hate him right now. I do NOT want to ever speak to him again right now.

WTF!!!! He cannot even leave me alone for a few hours to work out my frustrations on a weight bag! I even switched to the pathetic tred mill and he still bothers me!!! Can’t he even wait till I am done? It is after midnight.

Now that I am fully awake he f—-ing goes off. I so want to kill him right now. I check on Jordan who is still engrossed in her latest painting then go to check out my hunch about this complex. Since Bucky pissed me off enough I cannot sleep I guess I will share with him my revelation about this complex. That it is only 1/10 or less utilized behind walls.

At least I can set Bucky off on some useful path for the first time here.

Had a late breakfast as my beloved came out of her enthrallment and happened to find a third I needed to attend. I so love her.

My, well technically I have no authority so not really sure if “my” is even appropriate. Group met to have a discussion. The CO, Ben, seemed to think I was in charge of them, which puts me in a rather unpleasant predicament. I will need to talk to him about clarifying this.

As for the team meeting, it turns out several of them were holding things back. But I do believe this will help us work together as a group. Well, most of us. I hope.

Buck is beginning to come to his senses. I was about to go for a run when he insisted on talking to me. The timing of this was not good on his part. I mean, Hello? I am going on my run to clear my head and get my emotions under control. Anyway, Bucky actually apologized and asked for help. Well it was not quite that simple but it never is with Bucky. Becca came in at some point which I think may have helped. I guess I need to treat Bucky with the competency of a five year old when planning and giving instructions. And he actually needs to try and follow my instructions. We will see how this works out.

I finally got to try and go for my run. I tried the old subway line, tried along a highway. Ugh! I cannot even go for a simple run in this dang place!

Since we are supposed to stay out of sight until Ben has briefed his team I decided to go out and get food for everyone. I brought Bucky three Subway sandwiches and he f—-ing bitched about how they were not cooked on a barbeque! Hello, sandwiches! He is so infuriating!

I had another talk with Bucky and decided to see how well he is willing to follow instructions and we actually managed to successfully go out on a resource gathering mission. And somehow that lucky bastard found a hidden stash of several million from some previous bank robbery. I mean what are the freaking odds? “Lucky” Buck indeed.

We got back and a bit latter Ben came by and rounded us up for introductions with his team. I tried to get Jordan but she is immersed in painting a lovely Miami beach painting. It is so pretty! I am also already beginning to feel homesick for our home in Miami. It must be horrible for her. I always thought snow looked nice on post cards but now that I have actually had to trudge through it I find it to be cold miserable stuff.

Day 3
Well this is going well, not!! We are off to a superb start. First getting kicked, punched and selling a necklace makes me vampire public enemy number one but I didn’t know that. They then kill thousands in retaliation, Way to go Buck, I’m off to a fantastic start. Then the total disconnect with Layla who won’t ever explain these things. One of these days it would be nice of her to remember I’m not a soldier. I don’t take orders well, I have questions, and without some reason I am not as likely to comply and I just get irritated.
This has been status quo since we got here, something has got to give. So after she returned from her latest” frustration, thus not facing her issues directly” run, I confronted her. I admitted my mistakes, which stung a bit. I heard footsteps reach the door but I chose to not draw attention to it and instead continue the talk. Moments later it would be revealed that it was Rebecca listening in. Well she came in and started to play moderator. The conversation was ugly and soul bearing but just maybe things might be more cohesive now. I want to be a part of what’s going on, in a positive light for once.
So we tried again on a resource gathering mission. She found supplies and I found a bank heists hidden stash! We aren’t’ hurting for money so much now. I wanted to celebrate but I’m not supposed to leave the compound without a guide and for the record, the beer here sucks. Good think Lenny didn’t hop dimensions. I’d be hearing the complaints from his first sip of this stuff for months.
After what seemed like forever of “laying low” in the compound they brought us in to be introduced to the rest of the guys. Jordan was too taking up with her latest project to join us and we got no warning or briefing about what to expect. We were introduced as mages. Layla tried to leave Rebecca out of that group and got kicked for it, my girl knows some spells! I should have figured considering we met her in Miami. Everybody there did some magic, except us. And they apparently have a mage too. I’m a little concerned about that now thought. The first time one of us teleports (Me or Layla) and the mage detects no magic, we might have more explaining to do. Awkward.

Day 2
Well now what?
I’ve been here a day, and I’ve managed to offend the vampiric masses just by walking through their town. The only thing I’ve hurt was my titanium golem. I’ve been kicked, and punched by the local humans I’ve come here to help. And the only vampire I’ve interacted with, I sold him a necklace so we had some startup money. I found a library and that was apparently my biggest crime to date because I was late getting back after this discovery and while I was reading books the vampire nation mobilized to find me. And the only one I can depend on for help or advice won’t talk to me. She’ll argue and be standoffish but not talk, not involve me, not help me understand this place. There’s a disconnect between Layla and I and I need to solve it. I can’t come here to sit on the sidelines. We’ve met the leader of the resistance because Layla went and saved them all alone. Then she went patrolling alone. Then she went gathering supplies alone. The stakes have been raised but she continues to put herself at risk solo. She bashes me for having a superman complex but continues to take on everything like she’s the one who’s bullet proof. I wouldn’t be able to forgive if something happened to her cause she got hurt in her quest to do it all herself.
She has all the background for this kind of fight, raised her entire life to hate those around her that were supposed to be close. But she has the teaching skill of a sock puppet, and I can’t keep siting on the sidelines.
Once again we found ourselves in a situation where we had to instantly trust a stranger we just met, and within moments I was saying “look see I’m a dragon”. I hope he proves to be the trustworthy character we hope he is but my first impression I imagine lacked something to be desired based on all the rest of the circumstance in our first meeting. I’ve being given an escort, and it’ not my friend. This ought to be fun, not.

It seems Bucky left his brain in Miami. I can’t rely on him to do anything. He is out disobeying me this very moment! Hello, a simple task like “lets go back to the lair,” and he cannot follow it. There is absolutely no way I am taking him with me to the Detention Center and to rescue the resistance members.

Without Bucky around my rescue operation goes off wonderfully. As expected.

Bucky finally comes home and we get into it yet again. His childish behavior was a bit amusing at conventions and even at gaming. He is absolutely fucking clueless when it comes to anything real and dangerous. I still recall when he charged Montoya and his bodyguards with his fist while they shot him full of holes. He nearly died that time! I cannot take him into any sort of combat situations, he is just the mentality of a six year old.

I went to do some recon and explore the local area. I managed to see some news on TV and found that in response to Buck’s moronic childlike behavior of terrorizing the local civilians the vampire nation called in 600,000 troops! This baffled me at first as that is 46% of the total military but then I correlated that with what seems a 1960’s/70’s era which we seem to be in where they would have potentially over three million troops! It is still staggering the response.

I learned that night that over 10,000 innocent people were rounded up and “harvested,” which I figure means executed. That number doubled by morning. This will likely continue for weeks. I so want to beat the ever loving shit out of Buck, kill him even. I don’t think I have ever been so angry at any one person in my life! I mean it was only like an hour after I told him he was responsible to 10,000 deaths and he was grinning like a six year old and off to play with his golumn. He is like some cute puppy that just shit all over the carpet and has no clue he did anything wrong.

Oppression, what an ugly word. History has shown it in so many forms. Hitler’s’ rise to power, slavery and the Civil War. Rich fat cats and dog eat dog world of the not corporate favored.
For the last few months in Miami it meant be a dragon and inherit magic but don’t dare use it, you’ll attract attention. Then it meant rich mobster kidnap beautiful girl cause ya got money, guns, power and ya can! Yeah, fixed that one.
Now it’s off to New York, the big apple. Problem is thanks to a dimensional portal, this big apple has bit marks and only 2 holes in the fruit. Vampires! Ya know a year ago if ya asked me about them I’d have said, great gaming material and seen some cool movies about em. But here?!?! They are the 1%, they are the fat cats, they are the privileged and they are running the joint. Oppression has befallen humanity and humanity is just a depressed food supply.
So we are here, guess a look around is in order. I got suckered by the game I thought was research so I wasn’t able to pack. So we get here and a kid greets us “Oh the dragons are here.” Or something like that. By Layla made us cool biker outfits with dragons on them so I guess the reaction makes sense. He turned out to be part of the resistance, but the last one. The rest all got picked up in a bad sting apparently. So topping Layla’s to do list was get cash, guess she wanted to pawn something. We started porting for a shop. Took me a bit longer, still a little new at the warping thing but I think I got a better handle on it now. However on the way I had a few mishaps. I guess my feet freaked some chick out, then she kicked me. I admit I was annoyed so I said so, then her boyfriend had to chime in and punched me. I mean come on people, really!? I ask ya, would you punch an invisible entity if you were a human? That make a lot of sense to you? You got no idea what you’re trying to hit, if you can hurt it, if you’ll make it mad and what fate it would or could do to you for being stupid. But I was in a mood and I am here to help people, taking to fighting them would be a little counterproductive don’t ya think?
So no real harm done, I finally caught up to her at the shop and she groans something about sirens and somehow thinks it must be my fault. Then she tells me to mug the shop keep since we need to do this quick before cops arrive but really why would they be coming for us, we ain’t done anything yet. So I go in and sell a necklace she brought, we pop up to the roof, decide to head back but along the way I spot the library so I had to take a look around at least. Not a huge lay of the land in discovery but I did note the oppression in the available science information in the library before catching back up with her. But of course she was all hot temper still cause I took longer. Now she’s out shopping, so I guess I’ll scan this history information I read about.

Whew, got to my love and her phone has simply been pickpocketed. But she is ok so thank goodness!

Jack showed up with a “friend” who turned out to be Misty! She told us of another dimension in dire trouble and who could use my help. Bucky’s too for some odd reason but I don’t care to elaborate on to be kind.
This other dimension is overrun by Vampires. Apparently not the sparkly type but the real nasty verity. And many humans there have chosen to dedicate themselves to these vampires for whatever rewards. Fucking sympathizers!

Anyway while all us women spent three and a half days preparing to enter this new dimension Bucky instead decided to spend the whole time playing video games. Damn fucking slack off!

We all got to our new “home” for awhile and it turned out to be a bunch of steam tunnel’s under New York City. We are met by some 13-year-old kid foo who lost his parents three weeks ago and was the latest recruit to this dimension’s resistance. Of which all were captured a few days ago.
Bucky and myself went to recon the city to get an idea of where we were. It seemed to be a sadly depressing city full of the downtrodden with little hope. I found a body in an ally even! Most people walked with their head down and their lips closed. Not fucking Bucky though! God he would not shut the fuck up! He had pedestrians fleeing the streets from us!
We finally found an empty ally and we both went invisible. We had a plan to meet at the destination. Took me all of six seconds. I am meticulous in this sort of thing as one must know when the detonators will go off. And I waited. And waited. And… Oh look sirens. Dang it Bucky.
Bucky finally shows up minutes later. I want to ask him what he did but know he will just lie to me and put on his puppy-dog face. Which so does not work. We start to discuss a plan and he tells me he has one already. Then out of nowhere he creates an illusion of some silly looking guy. But out of nowhere! We were invisible and talking by mental dragon talk. Bucky created an illusion of this silly looking guy right on the sidewalk filled with pedestrians and possibly shopkeepers! Oh and I forgot this is a Vampire only section and I recall Misty saying Vampires hated magic users. Damn it Bucky!

So much for low profile recon…

We safely meet up at the roof. Bucky assures me he can safely make it back to our new lair. I teleport to the lair. Dang, My love looks sexy… I have 10 min for slow-ass to get back here.

I gave Jordan a tour of the Villa, our soon to be new home. I think she liked it, it is hard to say with her. She is a princess who grew up in a palace after all. I end up giving Buck a ride back to the apartment with us so he can pick up his car. It was the only way I could keep him from driving around town for no reason in one of Montoya’s cars. Its been a long day and Jordan and I just go to bed.

The next morning I go rent a moving truck and buy one an Enchanted Moving Dolly that makes whatever you are moving weightless. Jordan could move the bed with this thing. We load up the truck and head to the villa and move in. We are done about noon and I hear noises coming from the kitchen. Probably Bucky starting lunch. To my horror I find Bucky using the outdoor grill in the middle of the kitchen! I finally convince him to move it 20 feet out to the patio. I really do not understand how clueless he is sometimes, his argument for putting it in the kitchen was it is closer to the food. How fucking lazy is he!?

After another argument with Buck I convince him not to take a van of Montoya’s but rather use the moving truck I have already rented for just this reason. I don’t know why Bucky is acting like a moron today.

We start unloading Bucky’s stuff down to his room, he claimed the evil wizards underground dungeon bedroom. Good for him, helps keep him off my half of the Villa. We find Jack in the Alchemy room, which you have to pass through to get to the evil wizards room. Bucky ask Jack what is the orb under the towel, jack starts to touch the orb and we are all knocked unconscious. I wake up after an hour, it’s about 1700 now, everyone else including Jordan is still very unconscious. Five hours later Bucky and Jack wake up. I then find out that the night before Bucky had touched the orb and knew it knocked you out. But he did not think to warn us before having Jack touch it. What the hell is wrong with Buck!?

Jack took off at 2200 but came back a 2300 to join us all for a late dinner. Jack gave me new wands just for us and told us about the magic rings. I wake up Jordan and tell her about the rings.

At midnight as it happens, Bucky now finally has the wand to remove the love spell that was put on his so called girl of his dreams. He finally opens her containment bottle and she is released. Yay, maybe she can whip some sense into Bucky. I am just sick and tired of Bucky acting like a drunken child of late. He did not act like this back in San Francisco that’s for sure.

Jordan and I go to bed. Now that the Villa is terrorist free and ours, and with our new identities I hope things settle down and I can avoid Bucky like the plague for a few weeks and just spend time with Jordan.

…

One month later. Bucky came dashing into my sewing room asking me where was Jordan. I told him she was out grocery shopping. It takes a few minutes to get any coherent words from him but he had apparently just read that the entire royal family of England has been abducted, all the way up to the Queen herself! I try calling Jordan and no answer. I try the magic communication on the rings and no answer. FUCK!!!